pajama day/other rewards

[tia]

help! wednesday will be pajama day in my room. (when individual students earn 100 AR points, they get to pick a "theme for the day"--it usually involves some dress-up--yea! since we cancelled costumes for halloween a few years back, i'm game for any costume-related activity!) also, i try to tie in curriculum where i can and do some SHORT, fun activities that are related to the theme.

so wednesday is pajama day: i plan to provide cookies and milk, but i can't think of anything else--argh! do you have ideas?

this is the first theme day we've had this year because my class is a bunch of AR slugs! regardless of prizes i've set forth, they just don't care to test on books they've read....i even let them book talk with me or use book reports to count for books we don't have AR tests for, sigh... So i want this to kind of be a "blow out" day....however, not use the entire day--couldn't even if i wanted to...i have 1/2 hour of counselor, 45 min. of music, our students rotate for math and for novels...so that doesn't really leave me with much time, anyway!


ALSO: i have an incentive plan where my class earns Tiger Tickets (like caughtya's for positive behavior--it's a school-wide plan; our mascot is the bengal, and we all have different Tiger Teams--like house teams in Harry Potter--we earn Krispy Kremes at end of quarter if our Tiger Team has most tickets....) okay, total birdwalk, anyway: i have a plan where, if my class has earned 12 tickets in a day, they get a letter; when we spell out WE ARE AWESOME, they get some prize--we've had a movie, a read-in, an edible science lab, and a "no homework" coupon for individuals--i'm sure there was at least one other, but can't remember.

Do you have any ideas for class prizes for an awesome prize? (it doesn't have to be that awesome, that's just what my class calls it!) i'd like to stay away from rewarding with too much food and lengthy activities....

(yes, i do ask my students for their ideas on rewards: they give input on our principal's monthly good student reward, my weekly job payment, and my weekly good student drawing---for some reason i have a hang-up about the awesome prize being somewhat of a suprise.)

thanks for your ideas!

oops! guess i should mention that i teach 6th!

 

[Mrs. O]

sounds fun

It sounds like pajama day is going to be fun. Next Friday, we are having dress-up book reports. The whole school is involved and we will be dressed like our favorite book characters.

Some rewards I use in my class are:

• work anywhere
• sit with a pillow
• shoes off day ( except when we go to the bathroom)
• stuffed animal on your desk
• use the teacher's chair

 

[AmyH]

bubble gum

My kids LOVE bubble gum. It is against school rules to have gum but I allow it for a reward. You'd think I was waving a million dollars in front of them.

 

[NJ Teacher]

Theme Days

Our school is having sports team shirt day, hat day, and red, white and blue day.

 

[N2Teaching]

My Class Rewards

I teach first grade, but it could work for any grade. We just had "House shoe day." The children loved it! We have also had "Sock feet day."

 

[tia]

clarification

i appreciate your responses.

i am not looking for topics for theme days (my students get to pick these).

what i am looking for is:

A) activities that might tie into a Pajama Day

B) (totally separate issue) activities/prizes that would serve as reward for the whole class for meeting our behavior goal

thanks!

 

[Mrs. O]

Pajama day ideas

I would have the kids bring flashlights, blankets and pillows and have a read-a thon.

We would probably write a poem about sleep, sleep-overs, pajamas, etc.

Read a picture book that has to do with sleep or sleep-overs and then have your big kids write their own mini-version. Then you could follow it up by getting together with a younger grade and reading the two books to them.

Sleep related story problems.

Graph your favorite mid-night snacks.

Graph who reads before they go to sleep or other bedtime routines.

Graph what time they go to sleep.

Estimate the number of feathers in a pillow and then open it and count them. (you could make your own pillow from feathers and felt squares.) or you could give them a paper with a pillow and ask them to estimate how many feathers will be needed to cover it without lapping over or laying on top of another one.

Wow, I am getting excited about having a p.j. day!

Have fun!

 

[tia]

thanks!

thanks, mrs. o--those are some good ideas.

i just wish i'd planned better to hold this on a day when i had more time to do more with it.

i saw a book about pajamas (hope we have it at the library!) and i found a story with questions on edhelper about pajama day.

 

[bamagirl]

Silly String War

One time our fifth grade had a "Silly String War" as a reward. Each child who was able to participate brought in two cans of Silly String. We sent home a letter reminding the kids to wear old clothes to school that day...just in case it stained any, but I don't remember that it did. We went out to a big open field at our school, had a count down, and the war began! The kids had a blast, and the whole thing probably only took 10-15 minutes. We had 2-3 kids from each class volunteer to clean-up. The Silly String just picked right up off the grass! Quick and easy fun!

 

[Tylana]

Breakfast in bed

Because PJ day is always a reward for the kids, I always cook the kids breakfast in bed. One year I brought in cereal and milk with bananas, another year we had pancakes. I let the kids decide what they want for breakfast (within reason) This is a huge hit.

 

[drakers]

Board Game Day

At the end of this quarter (March 3rd) we will be having our PJ Day as the reward also. We allow the kids to bring board games, pillows, and blankets, and they get to play the games for the afternoon. We end the day with the silent reading activity. Our fifth graders have been asking when we would be having this activity because they remember other kids talking about it last year. I've even had the kids make their own pinball games as a science invention during our study of simple machines and they had those to play with.

 

[CoffeePam]

Pillows and a Movie

I have let my students bring in pillows and watch a movie based on a book that we've read in class. We move the desks out of the way and make a big deal out of it.

 

[spensemma]

Have you thought about decorating your room to help get them motivated to read? Last year for our p.j. day we decorated our class to look like a campgroung-I set up a tent, had beach blankets, a mini pool with books in it, lawn chairs etc. The kids were very motivated to read in the setting

 

[leeloop]

pajama activity

It may seem a little immature for fourth graders, but the kids have NEVER complained. I use the song Where do my sneakers go at night by Rick Charrette. It is a great song to visualize and draw a favorite scene for younger or as a quick activity.Usually with this older age group, writing an alternative story for what the sneakers did at night, or even to brainstorm another item that frequently "disappears" (glasses, remote control, etc...)and write a story of what happened to this item is a great launch for a creative writing activity. Of course, kids love to have pillows and blankets, but why not also have them make their own tie blanket or pillow. This could be made as a thank you gift for a class volunteer or special visitor. You could also use it as a raffle item for a community service project or make many and give to a local DCYF group to give to new foster kids to receive when they are placed. Monsters Inc is a great video for this type of day or even bedtime stories as a more recent release. Last of course, take a nap, turn off the lights and have everyone lie down and rest. Even ten year olds could use a few minutes of quiet rest! and that is my favorite part of the whole day- ahhhh quiet!